My friend Hannah and I went to the Festival of Trees on Saturday.  We were going to go horseback riding, but we decided it would be too late and too cold when both of us could go, and Saturday was the last day the Festival of Trees was open.

For those of you who don’t know what the Festival of Trees is, it’s a fund-raising event that earns money for the Primary Children’s Hospital.  It costs a small fee to enter the festival and the trees, gingerbread houses, and other items are auctioned off to local businesses and families.  Every penny raised from the event is donated to the hospital.

This is the first year I’ve ever gone to the Festival of Trees.  (My friends and I donated and decorated a tree a couple of years ago, but I didn’t get the chance to go check it out.)  I had a lot of fun with Hannah.  The trees and gingerbread houses were amazing.  I’d love to participate in the event again some time.  If I did, I think I’d make a The Nightmare Before Christmas tree.  (I missed the one at the festival this year because we didn’t get a chance to see the smaller trees.)

Most of the gingerbread houses were fantastic.  But, for me, a few outshined the others.

I took a few pictures of the trees themselves.  But, I mostly took pictures of the ornaments or the items surrounding the tree.  I guess when I go again, I’ll know not to just look for artistic shots.

Here are some of the ornaments and decorations I liked:

My friend Hannah kept asking me if I’d buy this tree or that.  My most common response was, “For the kids.”  Translation: “I don’t really like the style of this tree, but I’d buy it if I had the money because it goes to help the Primary Children’s Hospital.”  I really liked a lot of the trees, but some of them were too over-the-top to be considered as a tree I’d put in my home.  Or, they just weren’t my style, like the overly country-decorating-style type of trees and the Santa-themed trees.  (I had enough Santa-themed decorations growing up–because my mother is obsessed with him–that I don’t think I’ll ever decorate with Santa.  I’ll focus on snowmen or nativities or something else.)  I really liked the tree on the left, though.  I loved everything about it–the ornaments, the color, the style, etc.  It was simple yet elegant.  The only thing I’d possibly change is adding some purple bulbs because I really like purple, green, and blue together and I might also have varied the bulb sizes.

My favorite thing about the entire night was when the bagpipes were played.  I love bagpipes.  I love everything about them.  I could hear them far off and I kept craning my head over the trees and people to find them.  Then, I realized the group was doing a march through the expo center.  I made my way to the front of the line so I could get a picture.  It was so cool to be that close to the sound.